Bibliography

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Sources and their Relevance to TKAM:
DeBlase, G. (2005). Teaching literature and language through guided discovery and informal classroom drama.
English Journal. 95, 29-32.

  • This text justifies the usage of drama in the classroom through NCTE and IRA standards.
  • Encourages the use of drama to understand different perspectives, which we feel is an essential aspect of TKAM. The perspective taking aspects are something we plan to incorporate as we guide students to understand Scout, Jem, and Atticus's point of view.
  • We will learn about culture in TKAM. This is also an important aspect of TKAM, because the southern culture is vital to an understanding of the language, setting, and actions of the characters.
  • Finally, there are some scenes in TKAM that are difficult to imagine. We will use our students' creativity and drama to help them understand the events in the scenes.

Fairchild, R. (2002). Creative teaching through drama: Resources for teaching drama in the traditional classroom. Retrieved January 22, 2009, from http://www.angelfire.com/ego/edp303/cite.htm

  • This website provides an excellent introduction for using process drama. It outlines the differences between product and process drama. Having an understanding of what process drama actually is makes this modality more accessible for English Language Arts teachers.
  • Fairchild includes a justification for using drama in the classroom. This element of the website would be particularly useful when preparing to present the concept of process drama to the colleagues or administrators. Since students can often resist drama, the information offered here might be useful when "selling" drama to your students.
  • This website explains "The Basics" of process drama. This tool gives teachers helpful suggestions and hints for writing lesson plans that involve drama, methods for scaffolding students into drama activities, and sample lesson plans.
  • Fairchild's website would be most useful if consulted before beginning to use process drama in the classroom, when preparing to present drama as an effective modality to colleagues and administrators, and when justifying drama to students.
  • For creating drama activities for TKAM, this website will be particularly useful for scaffolding students into drama. We will use Fairchild's suggestions about using drama as a warm-up and for role play activities.

Kelly, K. S. (2006). "I'm a lot like her": Entering the world of others through process drama. In J. Jasinski-Schneider, T. P. Crumpler, and T. Rogers (Eds.), Process drama and multiple literacies: Addressing social, cultural, and ethical issues (pp. 71 - 87). Portsmouth: Heinemann.

  • According to this text, imagination is inherent in learning. What, then, do Scout, Jem, Dill learn from playing the Boo Radley game?
  • Students capture the tone and emotion and mood of the text in their own writing when they write in role. In my opinion, being able to use a literary device yourself means you will be able to identify it that much more easily in others’ writing.
  • The Watsons Go To Birmingham and TKAM both center on issues of racism in the south. However, students failed to make racial connections to characters in The Watsons; they only related on the levels of common interests and plot probably because they were so young. So, if students don’t identify with the racial issues, do they really understand characters’ perspectives? The text? Would high school students be more able or likely to make racial connections?
  • I also wonder if students might fail to make socioeconomic connections to the characters, which would effect their taking on the points of view of the Ewells, the Cunninghams, etc. Or, what is it about race that caused the students in my article to be unwilling/unable/to see it as unimportant to make a racial connection to a character?
  • Entering the world of others is important for TKAM since so many perspectives are left out of the narration. We don’t really hear from Tom, Mayella, Jem, Atticus, Aunt Alexandra, or Bob Ewell very much, and we don’t hear from Boo at all. Drama might help students see these characters’ points of view as they are implied in the text.

Maples, J. (2007). English class at the improv: Using improvisation to teach middle school students confidence, community, and content. The Clearing House: A Journal of Educational Strategies, Issues and Ideas, 80(6), 273 - 277.

  • This work offers scaffolding strategies for the use of classroom drama which allow for students to become comfortable within the classroom drama setting before requiring them to participate fully.
  • Additionally, it shows the merits of process drama in education and ways in which to make it successful even with students who are not fully prepared to tackle drama initially.

Rogers, T., O'Neill, C., & Jasinsky, J., (1995). Transforming texts: Intelligences in action. English Journal, 84 (8), 41 - 45.

  • The author cite specific instances of drama that they used with To Kill a Mockingbird (including Tableaux and Role-Play).
  • They write about how making class more interactive and dynamic can help students who struggle with traditional methods of literary discussion.
  • This article notes that we must use drama to open up our classrooms, and even backs our reasoning for using process drama with To Kill a Mockingbird.

Wilhelm, J. D., & Emiston, B. (1998). Imagining to learn: Inquiry, ethics and integration through drama. Portsmouth: Heinemann.

  • This work offers strategies for incorporating process drama into the classroom as well as the results of that incorporation.
  • It also discusses the theory behind process drama and the reasons behind why the instructors chose specific moves within the classroom.